FCC Proposes Cable, Satellite, Radio Database Extension

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The FCC is proposing to extend its online public file, including political file, requirement to cable, satellite and radio.

In response to a petition filed by campaign finance reform groups seeking that extended online filing, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday (Oct. 30) circulated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to that effect for a vote by the other commissioners.

TV broadcasters already have to file records of political ad buys to a searchable, FCC-hosted database (the FCC says it has had millions of hits on that database), but the FCC held off extending that requirement, and other public file requirements—like EEO, children's TV and more—to cable and satellite operators, which are all still required to keep those files available for public inspection locally.

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John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.